What to do in an era of Peace?
by Keyblade Mage
Summary: Everyone went they're own way after the war...Let's follow them! Rated just in case...but I probably won't. Oh yeah, and Kattang, Maiko, and unfortunatly Sukka. And maybe other stuff.
1. Chapter 1 The Kyoshi mercenarys?

After the end of the war, everyone went their own way

Here it is, my first Fanfic. It's not the best work here, but I really wanted to do this. This fanfic is basically about what happened to the group after the war. It was originally going to be a series of one-shots, but it's a bit more than that now. It's just a series of adventures of the Gaang, each with their own stuff. Some stuff from earlier chapters may appear later…That mysterious figure in chapter 6? That might be a ninja sent to kill Aang, who will innact his plan in chapter 10. Or it could be a gecko-owl. Just kidding. Anyway…

--

After the end of the war, everyone went their own way.

Sokka returned with Suki to Kyoshi Island. Sokka, as a war hero, was allowed an honorary place as a Kyoshi Warrior, and with his experience, he was part of the core of the Kyoshi Warriors. But, with the war over, the Kyoshi Warriors were no longer needed to protect the island. Many of them had to go work in other ways to help support the island, such as fishing farming, and other common forms of labor. This annoyed most of them, but none more than Ty Lee, who was "super-duper-mega-ultra-really-way-excited" about becoming a Kyoshi warrior. So, she thought hard to find a use for the warriors.

And then it came to her.

But then she realized that would be illegal. She'd spent too much time with Azula if she thought like _that_.

So she thought harder. But she still couldn't come up with any idea, so she thought up another one: find someone who would know how to use the Kyoshi Warriors.

--

"Sokka!!" Ty Lee called as she banged on the door of his hut.

"Soka, Sokka, Sokka, Sokka, Sokka!!"

A very groggy and disgruntled Sokka wearing a Water Tribe robe appeared at his door.

"Whut?" he groaned.

"What, you're still not up?"

" It's 3:00 in the morning!"

"Oh. Yeah, it is, isn't it!" She giggled. "Sorry Sokka." She looked at him in that hyper-excessively cheerful way that always threw Sokka off. More so when she woke him up when the moon was still up. He sighed.

"What do you want, Ty Lee?" he asked, resigned. He couldn't put up much of an argument anyway when he was this tired.

--

The next day, Sokka called a Kyoshi Council meeting. He, Suki, and Ty Lee represented the Kyoshi Warriors to present Sokka's idea. They proposed to make the Warriors into a "sort of like a mercenary force", as Sokka put it. The Warriors would accept different tasks from around the four nations, and for a price, fulfill them. They would range from jobs to assist the nations' armies, to doing simple recovery tasks.

"But how would we spread the word of the Kyoshi Warriors taking these jobs?" One Elder asked.

"Easy" Sokka said. "Don't forget that we know people in high places."

"So, what do you think?" Ty Lee asked exitedly. All eyes turned to Oyaji, who had his eyes closed, deep in thought. The words he spoke were slow and deliberate.

"While I may not trust all of the Warriors" Sokka saw his eyes shift momentarily to Ty Lee. "I do trust your judgment Sokka. And I believe in you as well, Suki."

"Umm…What about me?" Ty Lee asked. There was a silence as everyone looked at Ty Lee, before turning back to face Oyaji.

"I say that we should go ahead and attempt this plan of yours, Sokka."

"Thank you sir," Sokka said humbly. Oyaji laughed at this.

"Sokka, you have nothing to thank _me_ for! You helped defeat the Fire Nation, and end the war!"

"Thank you…But the fire nation wasn't defeated. It was just…changed. It's hard to describe, but…never mind, it doesn't matter. Thank you for this opportunity."

--

After this, Suki just couldn't help but feel that Sokka really _was_ a great addition to the Kyoshi Warriors. And he was the only boy, too. Suki sometimes teased Sokka about that fact, but he'd helped to revolutionize the Kyoshi Warriors after the War. He'd fought so hard to keep the Kyoshi Warriors together, and this plan was such a good idea. If this plan worked, there was no way that anyone would ever doubt the Kkyoshi Warriors again. _Thank you Sokka_, Suki thought.

--

Well, that was the first chapter of the fist Fanfic I've ever written. I know it's not exactly the best work out there, but hey, at least it's something. Toph is coming up next chapter!


	2. Chapter 2 Left Alone

"Hawky, this is for Toph," Sokka said to Hawky

Squawk.

"You…_do_ remember who Toph is…Right?

Squawk.

"Ok, that's good enough for me! As soon as this reaches her, you have to come back here so I can send you to Aang, okay?"

Squawk.

--

"Hmm…bird…latter-carrier on his back…piece of paper in the package…Sokka, I can't read!" Toph shouted. She was out in the garden of her mansion, and she couldn't belive Sokka had done this…again!

"Is there something wrong, Toph?" Her father had asked her. He had kept his voice quiet, and gentle, as though worried that he would scare her. He still didn't get it…

"No dad, I'm fine," she said in her usual tone. Toph felt her father's face crumple. She'd never really talked like this around her parents before. But after being with Aang, Katara, Zuko, and…Sokka, she felt like there was no way she could ever hold these feeling up again. Her parents were lucky she'd even put on a dress while she was at home. Of course, her parents had no idea she wore her usual cloths right underneath the dress. She'd taken off the dress whenever she went out of the house. Which was at night. When her parents were asleep. And they had no clue about her leaving.

"I'm just going to find someone in town who can read this for me," she called over her shoulder as she walked away.

No, wait! Why not ask a servant here to-"

"No thanks! I know someone in town anyway who's read my last-"

"What do you mean, _you know someone in town_?!" Her father asked.

Uh-oh.

"How have you gotten out of the estate?!" He asked, frantic.

"Well, dad," she began, a sarcastic tone already in her voice, "I've got two feet. They're very useful.They let me _move_. And my hands, they can actually do amazing things, like _open doors_. You might want to try using them for things other than greeting important people and eating."

"Toph!" Her father said, chastising her. He was appalled at her rudeness. But then, Toph wasn't usually this bad, even away from her family. She'd gotten a lot worse lately…she remembered last week, when her mother took her to tea with one of her friends and her son. The boy was bragging the whole time about his earthbending. Toph was really angry. She suspected that the moms wanted to get their two kids together and make "friends". Well, Toph didn't think she would go to _that _house ever again. Or, at least what was left of it…And that boy wouldn't be bragging about his earthbending anymore, after beaten by a _girl_ that fast.

"No Toph," her father said, "I meant how did you get past my security?"

Toph had already started to walk way at that point, and was under the huge arch exiting the garden. She stopped when she heard that.

"What?" At that moment, a huge metal cage fell from the arch, and trapped her. The cage snapped back up, and stopped in air, a thick metal chain suspending it. "Hey!" She shouted.

"Toph! Toph! Are you alright, To-" Her father began, but abruptly stopped. Toph had grabbed the bars of her cage, and kicked _hard_ on the floor of her cage. The floor hit the grass of the garden, and her father stopped in shock. He watched as Toph dismantled the cage, blasting it apart with her feet. Then, she went to the top of the cage, still held by the cage, jumped up, and smacked the arch with her skull. it crumpled into millions of tiny bits. When all the dust had cleared, Toph saw that her father had fainted. _Fainted_.

"Big Baby…" she mutted. She glanced down at the ruble, and saw a sheet of metal. She grabbed, and had a good idea.

--

"Here, read this out loud to me," Toph demanded as she slid the paper across the table over to the man sitting there. The man cleared his voice, but did not begin. "What, you need money before you'll even _read_?! Fine" She muttered, throwing a few pieces of gold onto the table Toph felt him smile.

"You know," he began in an old, gravelly voice, "This is _quite_ a long letter, I might need a bit more to keep me going…"

"Do you want my fist instead of any money?!" She shouted. Rather than give an answer, he started reading, his voice changing to a slick, oily voice.

"Dear Toph- Hey, this is Sokka. How's it hanging? Things are great on this end." Even through the old man's voice, Toph could hear Sokka speaking. "You remember that little problem with the Warriors I told you about before? Well, don't worry! I got it all fixed! Guess what…" And Toph listen as the man read Sokka's plan to have to Warriors take on jobs. "Yeah, the villige chief Oyaji cleared it for us. He also helped us once, when Aang was on trial. He helped get some very convincing evidence for Aang's innocence. Anyway, while I'm writing, I wanted to know if you could ask you dad if he could spread the word of them for me. Thanks Toph! Sokka."

Toph sat ridged in her seat.

"So, don't you think that deserves a little mo-" he stopped speaking as a boulder collided into the wall behind him, inches from his face.

"There's you bonus!" Toph shouted as she stomped out the door, her slab of metal in hand.

--

Toph always liked being in the badgermoles' caves. The It was probably mostly because of the moles themselves. Having someone (well, some_thing_, technically) who sympathized with you always felt good. Ever since Toph was little, she liked bringing some food to them. Not a whole lot, they still depended on themselves, but during some months, like these hotter summer ones, their plants begin to whittle down, and they have to hunt for the hoghoppers in their cave. So, Toph liked to help their food supply along. She brought some food to them today, and decided to do her work on her piece of metal. She started molding, and it bended to her thoughts, not to her hands. She'd really refined her metal bending since that last battle. Not that it was enough to-

"Who's there?!" Toph Shouted, suddenly on her feet. She tried to put on the air of toughness, but she was unnerved. One moment, she was completely alone in the cave. The next a figure had been there, coming from nowhere.

"It's alright. I'm here to help. I'm here to…make a deal with you."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you see, I want to offer _you_ something that you want in exchange for something _I_ want."

"I know what it means," Toph answered curtly. "I just meant what kind of deal."

"What kind of a deal?" Suddenly, the man was gone again. Then, he was right behind her. She shrieked, and jumped backwards.

"Get away!" She shouted, lifting a boulder to the air, then punched it, sending it over to the man. The man put his palm on the boulder, spun around, and sent it back to Toph. Toph caused a piller to rise from the ground, intercepting the boulder, then sent the entire thing crashing towards the man. But he sent stone columns from the ground, smashing the attack to bits. Then, he was behind Toph. I could get you the one you _most _care about to feel the same way to you" He whispered.

"Shut up!" Toph cried, sending the stone he was standing on up, smashing into the ceiling. But he was in front of her. "Who are you?"

"My name is of no consequence. All that matters is what I can give you. I belive I know what you want that slab of metal to be. Well…" he had a cane in his hands then, and he slammed it down against the metal. It suddenly transformed, and Toph felt it happening. She felt it become the perfect shape for what she wanted. She felt it dib, almost like an odd bowl, come so a point at the end, and the back was curved, the bottom was smooth, but for Toph's purposes, it wouldn't be for long. But she glared at the man.

"I still don't trust you" She muttered, but took her metal anyway and left the cave. As she left, she put the metal onto the ground, stood on it, and used earthbending to push the metal away, riding it. Now this, this felt good. She was fast, and this was a unique to her…she had this idea, and she acted upon it, and this was great. Speed was always great.

--

Toph was still annoyed when she was back in the estate. She had tried to take her aggression out on her ride around, but it just wasn't enough. She was still mad. She'd been mad a lot lately. And that letter from Sokka hadn't helped much. It sounded like he and Suki were in a good relationship together. It was more than that. It was being…what? Left out? Alone? Being Left…alone? No one was on her doorstep, asking for mercenary contracts to be fulfilled. Katara was working with her father to control the Southern Water tribe. Did the Earth King ask for her help? She helped in the war too, after all. She didn't get to do anything with Zuko, either. She hadn't even gotten to get to Ba Sing Se to help Iroh with his tea shop. Twinkletoes was working on his own, too. He was at the Southern air temple, practicing on his own, and doing other "monk" stuff. She just…wasn't needed anymore. It hurt her, and on top of that, she was alone again. But now it was more than before. Katara didn't get to spend time with her _boyfriend_ much, but they still communicated. "It's like a long-distance relationship" Katara said in a letter. Zuko spent all of his time between ruling on high as Fire Lord (Which, Zuko said, was more boring than it sounds) and being with Princess Pain. And since Sokka was starting a mercenary job with Suki as partners, she could only _imagine_ how swell things were going with them. Iroh had even wrote that he had seen some women "wroth looking into". But she didn't even have a single _friend_ to talk to. Oh, Toph could write to her friends, but just sending a letter about how _mad_ she was wouldn't quite help her. She needed to shout to somebody who wouldn't mind, to scream with a friend who wouldn't care, to be able to show something…but no, she had to ware her mask all the time, put on her stone armor, let all feelings stay under that. She was, again, the Blind Bandit. Just like before…She was left alone again.

And it ticked her off!


	3. Chapter 3 To be a Fire Lord

General Wong knew that the Fire Lord wasn't listening to his speech

General Wong knew that the Fire Lord wasn't listening to his speech. He knew because the white fire that had been there in the beginning of his speech was now a dark grey. He was quite irritated, but he didn't want to speak about this. He didn't want to be rude, but there was really no point in him talking if he wasn't being heard. He hesitated, trying to make a decision, and that slight pause seemed to be enough to catch the Fire Lord's attention. The grey fires regained part of their previous white color, and Fire lord Zuko spoke for the first time since greeting Wong.

"Sorry, what were you saying?"

"Er…" Wong fumbled around in his notes, trying to think of what he was to say next. "Er…the food supply in the northern-" but just as he started, the magnificent doors flew open, and a figure stood in the doorway. Looking back at the intruder with irritation, General Wong gasped in surprise. Zuko, however, seemed glad. The dwindelling remainders of the dull-white fires suddenly erupted, and changed to a pure orange flame, unbroken by streaks of yellow or red.

"Aang, good to see you!" And indeed, his voice had much more joy and elation in it than most of Zuko's generals had heard. They didn't seem to realize that he still had the attention spam of a normal teenager, and was bored by long speeches…

"Greetings, Fire Lord Zuko," Aang said, with much more respect in his voice than Zuko had when he addressed the Avatar.

"Wong, we shall continue this discussion at another day," Zuko said.

"Yes, Fire Lord," Wong replied, bowing away.

"Oh, don't worry Zuko, this won't take too long," Aang replied airily.

"No," Zuko said suddenly, "I uh…I wanted to talk to you anyway, Aang."

"Alright," Aang replied, surprised. After Wong left the room, Zuko's shoulders slumped; he visibly became less tense.

"Thank you for coming, Aang," Zuko groaned, sitting back in his throne. As he sat back, relaxed, the fires in front of his throne blew themselves out. Aang seemed to relize what just happened.

"You just wanted to use me as an excuse to get out of that meeting, didn't you?" Aang realized.

"Yes," Zuko admitted, "but I do want to talk to you. But not here, c'mon." he stood up, and led Aang though a concealed door next to Zuko's throne. As they went inside, Aang looked around in curiosity, but there wasn't much to this room. It was large, dark, and made out of stone. Aang could make out two rows of large stone columns rising from the stone floor, and fireplace large enough for a grown man to stand in, but that was all; there was no fire anywhere in this room, nor anything that would indicate that this was connected to the fire nation. "it's dark here," Aang heard Zuko say. "Let me give us some light." And then, Aang saw sparks go throughout the room, all from one place, and extending to all of the stone pillars, and then climbing up those to where they ended. Once they hit where the columns ended, there was a split second blinding flash, followed by a disorienting array of colors. when Aang could open his eyes, he gasped in shock. Every column had a different color of flame on top of them! Aang gaped in wonder, before hearing Zuko talk.

"Do you like this place? I come here every day to meditate." Aang looked at Zuko, and saw a broad smile on his face. "It's just like the dragon's fire, remember? All that colored fire, together like a rainbow of flame. I've found out how to make different colored fire, and I've been using it. After I found out how to do the colors, I had this meditation hall built. Two rows of stone columns, side by side, and I Firebend a different color into each row. Every color has it's own properties, and also controlled by it's own emotion. It's my only contribution to the palace, and I'm more proud of this than I am of any other work I've done since ending the war." There was a slight bitter edge to his voice at the end that Aang didn't catch.

"It's amazing. Wow, all different colors and emotions? What's white do?" Aang asked excitedly.

"It produces a cold flame. I haven't been able to freeze with it yet, but it's got some sting to it."

"And the green?"

"I haven't figured that out yet. It doesn't burn at all, so maybe it'd be useful for propulsion?" Zuko wondered.

"What about purple?" Zuko smiled at Aang's excitement.

"Purple isn't hot. I can't use it for offense, but I've been trying it for defense, and it seems to neutralize attacks much better than any other fire I've used."

"Wow Zuko!" Aang practically shouted, gripping his face. Zuko was amazed that the world was entrusted with this little kid. He could act mature when he needed to, but other times…

"Oh yeah, I was supposed to give you this," Aang suddenly said, remembering why he had come here in the first place. He took a rolled-up letter from his robes, and handed it to Zuko. The Fire Lord read the letter once, and looked almost curious. "Isn't Sokka's idea great?" Aang asked.

"Sokka asked you to bring this to me because I'm Fire Lord, right?" Zuko asked in a somber tone.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean…Do you know if Sokka had copies of this letter sent to the other leaders, or any influential figures?"

"Well…I know he had a letter sent to Toph and his family," said Aang, "and he asked me to bring letters to you and the Earth King. He probably had one sent to the chief of the northern water tribe."

"Why did Sokka ask you to bring one to the Earth King and me yourself?"

"Sokka's letter said because he knew he couldn't trust the Ba Sing Se postal system, and he wasn't sure about your security…or…postal system…"

"And did he have you stop anywhere on the way?"

"No, but he did ask me to drop "Kyoshi Warriors for Hire" flyers as I passed by towns."

"Next thing you know, he'll tell you to open a postal delivery shop…" Zuko muttered.

"What?"

"Nothing, nothing…it's just…don't you think Sokka was using you?"

"What do you mean?"

"You're the Avatar! You should be out…I don't know, stopping typhoons, or hurricanes, or making sure there's peace! Don't you think asking you to run errands, or bring postcards to people is a bit…beneath you?!"

"I'm always happy to help my friends," Aang said proudly. "And _nothing_ is beneath the Avatar," he continued.

"Are you kidding?! here you are, in the middle of a world trying to re-build its self, and you're on top of some mountain, meditating in between being a letter-carrier to you're friends?! Aang, the world needs you. We need help in fixing the world. We need food brought to villages who don't have any, we need to fix our military forces of any corrupt officers, we need peace, and you're not helping at all!" Zuko shouted.

"Ziko, that's really _not _what the Avatar is for," Aang answered calmly.

"Then what is the Avatar for?! For delivering letters, and goofing off, and-"

"Enough!" Aang shouted. "Zuko, I'm trying my best to do exactly what the avatar is for. you wouldn't understand, you've never lived in a time of peace with the Avatar here."

"This isn't a time of peace!" Zuko shouted. Then, more calmly, "At least, not yet. The Fire nation isbeing held responsible for all the problems of both the Water Tribe and the Earth Kingdom. It's not like we're not to be blamed, but we just don't have the recourses on our own to fix it. And , of course, people just don't want to accept that the war is over."

"What do you mean that people don't want to accept it?"

Zuko sighed, and told him what was bothering him the most: People in his country didn't believe in what he was doing. There had been several attempts at his life already, as well as fire nationeers attacking villages in the Earth Kingdom and Water Tribe. "We've gone from an Era of War, to an Era of Terrorisim," Zuko said.

--

Toph was amazed. Simply shocked. Maybe this trade off wasn't such a bad idea. She remembered vividly as she felt the old man approach her, and explain his deal. She didn't believe him at first, but she consented to haggle after seeing what he could do. She didn't know how he had taken her Earth bending, but this, this new ability, this was priceless. Now, she finally knew what she had been missing out on. She finally knew why people had thought she was at a disadvantage all her life. Toph could finally _see_.


	4. Chapter 4 Getting Well

"So, you want you're freedom, don't you

"So, you want you're freedom, don't you?" A voice said quietly in Azula's ear.

"What? Who said that?! Who's there?!" Azula said, panicking.

"It's all right dear, no one's hear but the two of us, just like always Why no try to talk about you're friends? Have you made some during you're stay here?" Azula's caretaker asked. She was a middle aged woman and wore healer's robes.

"Oh…okay…I'll do that…..I'll just….I'm Fire Lord, you know. I am! You should take me out of this…thing," Azula was talking about the large stripe of metal coming from the walls, entirely encasing her body, except her head. "And my father is the Phoenix King! You should let me out!"

"That's nice dear," the healer said, moving a piece of the metal to expose Azula's bear skin. She injected the needle that she was holding in her hand, and talked to Azula as she did so. "You know, I don't think we'll get anywhere else with talking today. I'll let you out, and you can go be with you're other friends. Doesn't that sound nice?" She released Azula from her holder, and patted her on the back while she calmed down.

"Yes…yes okay….Do ya think….do ya think you could send my mommy a letter? There's a nice man here…He says he's an Air bender! Ya know I admire benders….aren't they just so…lucky!" Azula rambled, her words slurring from the medication injected in her. Just then, a boulder came flying out of nowhere and hit the healer, sending her flying backwards. Azula saw a figure come out of nowhere, and giggled, clapping her hands. She saw the old man grin, and then speak.

"Boy, have I got a deal for _you_."

--

Toph was amazed. Still, she was shocked. There were so many things about the world that she could never have imagined. There were colors, there were things to see, there were so many people who looked so different….She'd gone through her life never trying to imagine what it was like, because she knew she _couldn't_ have imagined this, ever, if she had tried. There were flowers, there were trees, there were houses, there was the sky. _The Sky!_ She'd _known _about these things, sure, even felt some of them. But to see them? That was, as Toph knew now, completely different. Day was bright, and then the whole world changed at night, going from one shade to another. This was amazing. It had been only one day since she had been given sight, and she needed to see her friends. She needed to know, while she could know, what they looked like. And she needed that to happen know, because the old man had only guaranteed her a week of sight, since she wanted her bending more than her sight. After one week, she should go blind again. So, she had a servant write a letter to all of her friends (She still couldn't make since of those letters), and had them sent off. She told them it was urgent, that she needed to see them, but she didn't say that she could see. She didn't want people thinking she was like Azula now…

--

Zuko and Aang were still in Zuko's meditation chambers, now discussing the international ball game, Silver Ball. The next game would have the Northern water tribe against the Southern water tribe, and they were discussing how they thought the game would turn out.

"The southern tribe has it," Zuko said. "They've got all of those tools their allowed to use."

"But the northern tribe has water benders! They've got it-"

"But the southern tribe has Katara," Zuko reminded Aang.

"Yeah. I haven't gotten to see her much after she was chosen. And she's busy all this week too, preparing for the game. I don't think she'll be able to see anyone but her team mates."

"That's rough," Zuko sympathized.

"Fire Lord! Fire lord Zuko!" A servant came running up to where Zuko and Aang were sitting, and started to talk in a panicked voice. "We have urgent news from the 'Warped Wars' mental health facility!" Aang chucked.

"That's a nice name," he joked. Zuko however, looked concerned.

"What news?"

"A break out, sir!"

"A…a break out? But…but how?"

"Zuko, what's wrong?"

"That was where my sister was kept!"

A second runner ran into the room, carrying a sealed letter. "Fire Lord Zuko, there is an urgent letter here for-"

"There's no time for that! There's an escaped madwoman of the loose!" Zuko started to run off.

"But sire it's-"

"He'll pick it up latter!" Aang shouted back to him as he ran off.

The letter had a Bei Fong seal on it.

--

Oyaji looked at the letters addressed to the Kyoshi Warriors. They had requests pouring in from all over the world, and Sokka and Suki were both gone. He looked at a very official looking sealed letter that was addressed to Sokka, and put it in the pile of letters for Sokka. He could read it once he was done in the desert. The expedition should only last a few more days. Probably just another fan mail letter, anyway. And who thinks up these wacky seals? A flying pig…

--

Aang and Zuko ran outside, and jumped onto Appa. "Appa, yip yip!" Aang cried.

"Who made that up, anyway?" Zuko asked.

"I dunno. So, where are we going?"

"We'll start at the hospital Azula was staying at. We'll need to see what happened there, and then try to find out where to look for her."

"All right, let's go!"

--

"Sokka, do you have any idea what we're supposed to be looking for?" Suki asked. Suki, Sokka, and Ty Lee had been digging for a few hours, and nothing had happened yet.

"I don't know. The employer was a little confusing in that letter sent to us, but it sounded like we'll know what we're looking for when we see it…"

"Hey, what's this? Sokka, Suki, come here!" Ty Lee called. When they came over, Ty lee was standing next to a bit of metal, partially exposed in the sand.

"It looks like a pressure plate," Sokka said, crouching down to examine it. "Maybe if we…" he pushed down on the plate as hard as he could, but it wouldn't budge. "Alright, maybe if we all stand on it together it will work," Sokka suggested.

"Hey look," Ty Lee said, pointing at a spot on the plate. "There's places for people to stand! Maybe it'll work if we just stand on those spots?"

"Worth a try," Sokka said.

"Wait, I have a bad feeling about this," Suki said, reaching out to stop them.

"Ah, c'mon Suki, what's the worst that could happen?" Sokka asked. With a sigh, Suki went forward to stand on the foot prints. "We'd better try to stand on them at the same time. There's only three prints here, so that's lucky. All right….1….2….3!" And at the same moment, they all moved forward to stand on a foot print. Instantly, large bars came out of the sides of the pressure plate, and formed a cage on top of them. They all looked up, as if to try to think of a way out through the top, but as they watched, a large metal ceiling flew down on top of them.

"Why hello!" a familiar voice called out to them. "It's so good to see you again!"

"_Azula_?!" Ty lee called.

"Oh, you've remembered your old friends? How comforting!" Azula's voice seemed to have been coming from atop the cage, and she still sounded as insane as before.

"They let you out of the crazy hospital?" Ty Lee asked, sounding confused. After she spoke, she heard Azula stomping on the cage ceiling.

"It! Was! Not! A! Crazy! Hospital!" She screamed, saying each word as she stomped.

"Apparently…" Suki muttered"

"What did you say?! What are you saying?! I know you all hate me! I know! but you can't get me now! You can't! He's got the plan! He's got the best plan ever! He's going to help daddy now!"

"What!?" Sokka, Suki, and Ty Lee and yelled. The only response they had from Azula was laughter.

--

"Fire Lord Ozai…" a voice called outside the door. "Fire Lord….Fire Lord…where are you? I'm here to help…" Suddenly, the voice was inside the ex-Fire Lords' prison chambers. "Ah. There you are. All right, Fire Lord, I'm here to make a deal with you."

"What kind of a deal?" Ozai asked feebly. He could tell that this person was an old man, but he couldn't tell anything else. He couldn't even see the figure of the old man.

"You want to Fire bend again? you want you're strength back? I can…give that back to you…"

"What?" Ozai asked, not really paying attention. This was likely some kind of hoax…

"Pay attention! I've got a Deal for you, and I don't offer Deals very often! Although, I have offered a lot recentally…Anyway, I can give you back your Fire bending, strength, and throne for…a paltry fee."

"I'm listening" said Ozai, beginning to think that this may be real. This…aura that the old man's voice generated reminded him a lot of the Avatar.

--

"The man who took her, he sounded Water Tribe. He mentioned about the North pole, and how he would get good ransom money her. But he was an Earth bender, I think," the healer explained to Zuko and Aang. She had been one of Azula's caretakers, and was attacked while treating Azula. Oddly though, it hadn't been Azula who attacked her.

"What a mess…" Zuko muttered.

"Need a ride to the North?" Aang asked.

"You'll help me?" Zuko asked.

"Of course. I'm always happy to help my friends." Just like before, Zuko herd the note of pride in Aang's voice.

--

Toph was laying in her bed staring up at the ceiling, not understanding what was taking them so long. Sokka and Suki were pretty close, so they should be here soon, but she was surprised they weren't already. Zuko might have been far away, but he had a balloon to get places quickly. She knew that Zuko would be busy, but she tried to make it sound like an emergency in her note. katara had practice for her Silver Ball game, but she shouldn't be _that_ busy. And what about Aang? He was closest out of all of them, and he had Appa! What was wrong? Did she not matter anymore, now that the war was over? She thought…but maybe she was wrong.

"Well if that's how they'll treat me, then they can just-" Toph started to shout, but was interrupted by a servant.

"Miss Bei Fong, you have a visitor."

Toph gasped. "Who-" But as she sat up to look, she knew her answer. She saw, in the doorway, a beautiful, dark skinned girl. She was wearing soft blue robs, with white fringes, which she knew where the colors of the water tribe. This had to be Katara. She gasped again. "Katara!" She cried.

"Hey Toph. What's the-" she saw Katara's eyes widen, heard her gasp, and her amazement. "Toph! You, you…what happened?!" She asked excitedly. Toph ordered the servant to bring them tea, and told Katara exactly how she had gained sight.

"There was this old man, and he offered me a deal in the badger moles cavern. I din't even listen to him, but he came back later, on the estate grounds. He told me I could trade my Earth bending for sight, but I told him I wanted Earth bending more than sight. He told me I could have a week of sight, and then he'd come back and ask me which one I wanted more after that. I told him fine, and then I fell asleep. I woke up, and then…" she motioned to her green eyes.

"Wow," was all Katara could say after a few moments.

"Yeah. I had no idea what this was like. But to be honest, I only want about a week of sight, just so I can get to know the world a little bit better. But the thing I really want to do is see everyone's faces! I sent a letter to everyone, saying that it was an emergency, and to come right away. But you're the only one who's come so far." Her voice sounded slightly bitter at the end.

"Really? Aang hasn't come yet?"

"Nope. I've got no idea what's going on with everyone else. I started to think no one would come. I'm glad you got to come."

"Actually, I'm not supposed to be here. I guess some kind of wealthy old nobleman invested in our team, and wanted to make sure that we all practiced a lot this week."

"Man. It almost feels like someone's trying to keep everyone away me!"


	5. Chapter 5 To Escape and To Protect

here it is! Sorry it took so long, but this was _hard_ to write. Anyway, agian, not the best work out there, but It'll pick up soon. I promise. And please people, review! If I know people like this, then I'm gonna keep going for them. Reviews are a way to motivate me. So just...read and review. Please.

--

Azula had put a tarp over the cage holding Sokka, Suki, and Ty Lee, and they were now being transported

Azula had put a tarp over the cage holding Sokka, Suki, and Ty Lee, and they were now being transported. They didn't know what was moving them, and they couldn't see anything outside because of the tarp, but they did hear Azula mutter threats in front of the cage.

"What could happen," Suki mimicked Sokka's voice.

"Okay, okay, I admit it. I was wrong," Sokka said in a sober voice. Then, "I wish Toph was here. She could just Metal bend us out of here."

"Yeah," Suki agreed. "Or your sister. She'd probably find some way to Water bend us to safety."

"Or maybe Zuko could melt the bars," Soka suggested.

"Zuko would probably accidentally melt us _all_," Suki said , trying for some humor.

"I wish Momo was here," Ty Lee said. Sokka and Suki looked at her questioningly, and she just said, "What? I haven't seen him in a while."

"There's gotta be a way we can get out of this thing," Sokka said, standing up. "Let me think," he said.

"Oh boy," said Suki.

"We're doomed," Ty Lee agreed.

--

"You know Katara, having you around feels really _good_" Toph said. "I really missed hanging around with everyone." Toph was lying across her bed, and Katara was sitting next to her. It was late at night, but neither of them wanted to sleep yet. They had so much to catch up on.

"I think I know what you mean," katara said. "Not being around all of our friends…I started to feel really…isolated. I really miss everyone."

"Yeah. It's really too bad that you have to leave soon to go back to your Silver Ball team."

"I don't know…I'm not sure if I really want to keep playing. Aang said that the sport was all about unifying all the great nations. I thought that competing would be my part in healing the world, but…I don't really like the game that much," Katara admitted, laughing feebly, and Toph laughed harder, and they both seemed happy. Happier, they both knew, than they had been since that one day in the Jasmine Dragon. Toph's room was right above the grand doors to their estate, so they could both hear when there was an urgent knocking at the door. "Should we-" Katara started.

"Nah. Let my parents get it." But, when they heard a messenger say hastily about urgent news, Toph had decided that this was worth listening to. They both went to the window, and listened to the messenger explain about his urgent news.

"Lord Bei Fong, wild animals have been discovered in caves outside of town…"

--

_There has to be a way_, Sokka thought. _There's always a way. There's always a way to get out of any situation_. Sokka could tell that it was night, because he could dimly see the light from the moon shining through the tarp. The Moon….Sokka sighed at the thought. If only the Moon could be here to help him. Sokka knew there was a way to escape, but he didn't know what it was. Azula had them in simple clothes, similar to the prison uniforms of the Fire Nation. _So, we don't have any equipment to help us_. The tarp was was out of reach, but obviously securely pinned down. _So, we can't pull it off to get help_. They couldn't hear any noises, apart from those inside the cage. _So, we can't call for help_. They had air. _So, there must be some sort of way to have air in here_. The air was dry, hot, and was obviously coming directly from the desert. _So, it's direct…there isn't any sort of machine giving us air, because it's straight from the desert. If there's a way for air to get _in_, then there must be a way for us to get _out._ but if the air is direct, then whay can't we hear anything from outside_? _We're still in the desert, judging from the stale air, but there are no desert noises…no buzzard wasps, no sandbenders, or beetle-headed merchants…I can't tell if we're going through the desert still, or if we're in a town, or oasis. I can't tell if we're moving or standing still. I don't know how we're being transported. And I'm not sure if Azula would be able to hear us_. _maybe…_

"Hey, Azula!" Sokka cried. "I think I might have a deal for you." There was no response. "Oh, come on, at least consider it! You havn't even heard what I was going to say! Know, what if I could give you something in exchange for our freedom?"

"Sokka," Suki said, "what are you _thinking_?"

"Quiet," sokka said quietly. "Now, come on Azula, you said your father was being set free. Right? Well, don't you think you might have to…_redeem_ yourself, if he does come back? hwo knows, he might even think of you the same way ha thought of Zuko…"

"SHUT UP!! SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP!!" Sokka heard Azula scream. But he couldn't tell where her voice was coming from. It sounded muffled, however.

"Oh, come on, Azula. Be realistic. I mean, Ozai thought Zuko was a failure, but you _lost_ against him. I mean, that must make you even _worse_ than Zuko." This time, Sokka could hear Azula banging on the cage.

"QUIET!! HE DIDN'T DO IT ALONE, HE HAD HELP!! THAT PESANT CHEATED!!"

Oh, yeah that's right," Sokka said, as though just remembering. "Not only were you beaten by a traitor and a failure, but you also got captured by a filthy, lowly, _pesant_." No sooner were the words out of his mouth, than Sokka could feel the cage shift. First, ty Lee, Suki, and Soka all got sent forward on the ground, as though they were pushed. _That means we were moving. But we just came to a sudden stop._ Then, Sokka could see Azula, holding the tarp for her to come closer to them. Though Sokka couldn't see anyvisable means of opening the cage, a side of the cage opened, as thought it was a door. Azula came forward, and nailed Sokka against the wall of the cage. She was suddenly very calm, almost like her old self. However, Sokka could see the rage boiling all around her, though she tried to keep it hidden.

"Do you KNOW what we're going to do to you?" Azula asked, her voice breaking randomly.

"No, why don't you tell us?" Sokka asked, completely at ease, even though he was against the wall of a cage, facing a very angry Firebender.

"We're taking you to the sandbenders," she said, exited. "Did you knw that there is an underground slave market here in the Si Wong desert?" she asked, overjoyed. Ty Lee gasped.

"Azula! Azula, you wouldn't!"

"Oh?! Oh?!" Azula let go of Sokka, letting him slide to the floor, and started alking up to Ty Lee. "What do you think I wouldn't do anymore? Hmm? Tell me. Tell me!" She screamed.

"So, you say you're not alone?" Sakko asked, rubbing the spot where Azula had grabbed him.

"Yes! That's right, he gave me friends!"

"Who did?"

"The old man! The old man set me free, then told me to come here! he said that he would make sure to come to the desert, and I could _sell_ you! He told me everything, and he found people who wanted to help!"

"People who wanted to help? You mean, people from the Fire Nation? Firebenders?!"

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no, No, NO, NO!! No, none of them are firebenders. Stupid peasant!"

"How are they helping you, then? We obviously can't get out of this cage. It's so hard to figure out how it works…" Sokka said, feigning ignorance.

"Oh, they're at the sandbenders' cave right now. They're setting everything up with them."

"Oh. I see. So, you mean, you're all alone? With no one to even talk to? Theymust be really bad…" This is too easy. It was pathetic how easily Azula could be fooled.

"What's your point?"

"Oh nothing. Hey, do you mind if I give you a hug?" Sokka asked, thinking quickly. She was insane, and she might not se it soming…

"Do you really think I want you to touch me with those filthy peasant hands?" Azula asked.

"Well, you're not exactly royalty anymore…" Sokka said, knowing what she would do.

"Why you little-!" She came charging forward, Sokka still on the ground. He waited, then rolled onto his hands, kicking upward, straight into Azula's stomach. Ty Lee and Suki winced as Azula got sent flying upward, all the wind knocked out of her. She landed, hard onto the ground, completely winded. Before she could recover, her prisoners had already left the cage, leaving it open, as they didn't know how to close it. They went into the cart connected to the cage, and grabbed the chest containing all of their stuff. Their clothes, their weapons, their supplies, they had everything in the chest. Then, they started running as fast as they could. They weren't sure how Azula would react, not if Sokka's blow had rendered her unconscious or not. it was a hard blow, but Azula was built as a fighter.

"Nice work Sokka," Suki said as they ran.

"Thanks," Sokka said, heaving as he alone carried the large chest. They ran for a long time, and when were sure that Azula wasn't coming after them, they took a break and sat down.

"Wow Sokka," Ty Lee said, panting. "I don't think I'll ever doubt you again!"

"Thanks," Sokka said again, also breathing heavily. "It wasn't that hard. She was easy to fool in her state. Actually, I wish she hadn't been so easy to fool. I think it would have been real fun to find a way to escape right behind her back."

"it would be more fun to see her expression once she found out that we'd escaped right behind her back," Suki said, smiling at the thought.

"Yeah," Sokka said wistfully. But Sokka knew they were in more danger now than they were in Azula's cage. Well, actually, an entire desert probably wasn't as dangerous as Azula was, but they had been guaranteed to stay alive with Azula. The Si Wong desert, however, wasn't going to be merciful, as Sokka remembered all too well.

_Great. What now?_ Sokka thought, his mind already hard at work to think of a way to survive the desert.

--

Toph and Katara listened to the messenger explain to Toph's father that wild badgermoles had been discovered in caves outside of town, and that they had no reason to worry, as a group of expert hunters had been called in to exterminate them. At the messengers words, lord Bei Fong seemed to relax a little, knowing that any threat was about to be eliminated. However, neither the messenger, or the Lord knew how worried Toph was. Seeing the man at the door from above, she started to be very worried, indeed. The badgermoles. _Her_ badgermoles. Her _friends_. Those badgermoles had given her earthbending. She was blind, just like them. She was just like them in so many ways. She sometimes felt as though she had a little badgermole inside her, a warm feeling inside her heart that always helped her. But she hadn't felt it since gaining sight. Of course she hadn't. She wasn't like them anymore. With that warm feeling gone, she sudden'y felt different.

"Katara, we have to go," Toph said, a hard note in her voice. _No one _was going to hurt them/ She was going to make sure of that. Toph's eyes narrowed, and she took off her dress, her usual clothes hidden underneath them. She picked up her favorite accessories from her table, her tiara and the space-earth bracelet.

"Right," Katara said, running along with Toph.


	6. Chapter 6 Spiritual needs

Alright, here it is, chapter six! Sorry this took awhlie, I got the new Twilight book the other day, and was so pumped about that. And, if you've paid attention to me, than you'll know I also started a twilight fic as well. Plus, there was this sick anime that I got into, then a little mini crises with the family. But, whatever. Here's the new chapter!

--

"Chief Arnook, are you positive that you haven't seen anyone odd come to the Northern Water Tribe?" Zuko asked, cautious to not sound disrespectful.

"Or anything unusual happening?" Aang suggested. "Lightning on a clear day? Fire popping all over the village? Any disappearances? Ice melting? Storms?" Aang asked, as the Chief shook his head at each suggestion.

"How about a crazy woman running around, insisting that she's Fire Lord, while throwing around blue fire like gifts, screaming that she'll "make mommy say sorry for making her cut her hair"?" Zuko asked, not exactly keeping his tone even. Aang laghed a bit at this, and Zuko saw Arnook raise one eyebrow in question. "The healers at the healing facility thought that Azula would make some progress if she talked to a family member," Zuko explained.

"Azula? Your sister?" Arnook asked. He'd heard clearly heard about Azula, as his eyes widened in shock, and he winced a bit, while scowling. "I've heard of her. Has she escaped from her hospital?" Arnook asked, concerned.

"Yeah. She has," Zuko said, a hard edge in his voice. Arnook, who clearly didn't really know the kind of relationship between Zuko and his sister, reach out his arm to rest on Zuko's shoulder, and said, "I'm sorry," as though this news would make Zuko sad.

"Sorry? For what?" Zuko asked, taken aback.

"Well, your sister must be having a hard time if she escaped before getting well."

"What? Do you think that matters to me?" Zuko asked, so shocked that his diplomatic air had been dropped completely. "After what she put me through?"

"Yes, I understand, but she is still your sister. I can see that this has an effect on you."

Zuko decided to humor him.

"Right, well…being as concerned for my sister as I am, I think that I should go find her. So, if you ever get any information about where my sister could be, please let me know. Because I'm very concerned. For her safety. And, as we're brother and sister, she means a lot to me. Because…uh…we're …related." Zuko said. "Which is a fact that I would never want to forget. Ever. Because she means so much to me," Zuko continued, talking through his clenched teeth.

"Right…." Aang said awkwardly. "So, I think we should probably get going," he said as he pulled out his bison whistle.

--

Toph and Katara ran. They ran as fast as they could, the forest whipping around them. it felt to Toph that no matter how fast they ran, it wouldn't be enough. They had to go faster…

--

Sokka, Ty Lee, and Suki dragged their feet across the sandy floor of the desert. They had unlocked the chest that morning, and they had all of their stuff. But it was so _hot_ in the Si Wong desert. They had no idea where they were going, or where they even were. Sokka already knew what this would mean for them. They couldn't call for any help (Hawky had been left at their camp), and they weren't going to lucky this time. Not like they had before. They weren't going to find something to help them now. They weren't going to get to survive this time.

--

Appa was drifting around lazily in the sky. Aang and Zuko were searching around the North Pole, looking for something suspicious.

"See anything?" Aang asked Zuko.

"No nothing. I can't see anything but snow, water, and ice. This whole place is the same!

"Don't you have some kind of fire that can help us?"

"My fire isn't magic. I can only do so much with it. What about you? Shouldn't you have some kind of Avatar magic or something?"

Aang shook his head. "I can't just do it whenever I want. I'd need to be someplace spiritual, but I still would need to know what I'm looking for."

"What about that oasis?"

"The Spirit Oasis? That might work, but I still don't know what to look for."

"It's the only chance we've got. We might as well try it."

As Appa drifted downward toward the Oasis, Aang thought he heard a noise. He wasn't sure, but…

Then, an old man suddenly appeared out of nowhere right behind Aang. He touched his gnarled, wrinkly old hand on Aang's bald head, and spoke with his grizzly old voice right in Aang's ear.

"I hope to meat you in the Spirit world, young Avatar. Meditate, and we can have a…discussion about the future of his world."

"Wha?!" Aang shouted, jumping to his feet.

"What!?" Zuko asked a little alarmed.

"What? Didn't you…?" Aang started to ask, but looking at his irritated, skeptical face, he stopped and shook his head. "Never mind. I guess I'm just tired, that's all."

"Well, don't worry. We'll get a break right now," Zuko said as they landed. He breathed a deep breath after he got off Appa. "Ahh, grass! I'm sick of all of this snow!" He turned around, and saw Aang's anxious face, and noticed that he was fidgeting with his fingers. "Hey, you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Aang said, distracted. He _was_ distracted. He could feel a presence Zuko hadn't, heard a voice Zuko didn't notice, and was told to meet this entity in the Spirit World. If Spirits were visiting him in the human world, then something must be wrong. Something must be out of balance.

--

"Sokka…Sokka, what do we do?" Ty Lee groaned helplessly.

"I wish…I wish I knew…" Sokka moaned…just as hot and tired as Ty Lee and Suki.

"Sokka…don't you have a plan?" Suki snapped. Unlike Ty Lee and Sokka, who got tired and groaned and got sluggish with exhaustion, Suki got irritated and snapped. Sokka sighed. He'd been the leader, and he had to keep his voice even.

"My plan was to get us away from the crazy lady. I thought that that would be better than being auctioned off like we belonged in a pawn shop." Sokka explained in his exhausted voice.

"You thought that being killed in the middle of ABSOLUTLY NOWHERE WOULD BE BETTER THAN-" she screamed, but she stopped abruptly, clutching at her throat.

"Her throat's too dry and cracked," Ty Lee said in wonder. "Wow. And I was worried we would have to listen to her for a while," she said with a wide grin. She and Sokka looked as Suki waving around her arms, mouthing as though still trying to scream at them. Just then, as they watched, a stray croak slipped out, coming in such an odd moment that Sokka and Ty Lee laughed, as Suki mouthed as though laughing, and when abother squeak came from Suki, they all laughed even harder.

--

"Stop! Stop!" Toph cried, running out of the woods, and entering the mountain ridge just outside of the badgermole's cave entrance. However, she knew she was too late. She saw badgermoles, many of them, inside metal cages.

"I said stop!" she cried out. She crouched down, and smacked the earth with her fist. A good tremor ought to fix them. But nothing happened. "What?" she said, looking at her hands, before she remembered. Why did she choose something so selfish…?

"Toph, what're you doing?!" Katara cried, charging forward while bending water from nearby puddles into a wave. It blew away many of the hunters, but there were more in the cave. They came out, hearing the commotion, and immediately spotted Toph and Katara. They charged forward, weapons drawn, heading right towards them. Toph screamed, but she knew it would do no good. Then, there was a loud eruption. The badgermole's pack matron, the leader of the badgermoles, charged out of the mountain wall. Toph knew it was her immediately. She could see the two vertical scars across her left eye, and the other diagonal one across her right eye. This was the only badgermole she had ever been afraid of. She was always afraid of this one, even when she brought them food while she was far more capable of protecting herself than anyone else knew. In fact, Toph feared her now. She was afraid of her, but she was also afraid for her. Those hunters didn't look like amateurs. The pack matron charged forward, but there was a loud crashing sound, and a huge cage fell on top of her. She matron gave a louod howl, a keening sound that was truly horrible to hear. However, the hunters seemed to revel in the sound, becoming overjoyed at having brought such a fierce creature to its knees.

Toph felt the tears, but she didn't care. She ran forward, even though she didn't know what to do. Men approached the matron in her cage, and when Toph got close, they grabbed her, held her back. Toph was dimly aware of the fact that katara was also being restrained. Toph struggled, but it was no use. She couldn't break free.

"So, this is how the great Toph Bei-Fong acts in defeat?" a familiar voice said. it was old, and grizzly. It was a voice Toph knew.

"You!" she screamed as the old man came into view.

"Ah, Ms. Bei-Fong, it is a pleasure to see you again," he said, giving her a courteous, sarcastic bow. he leaned forward, close to Toph, and whispered, "It must be so hard. Knowing just what you had to give up for what you desired. You hurt your friends…you truly are a monster." He leaned away from her, and spoke in a loud voice. "You are a monster. You deserve to be locked up, along with your monster friends!"

Toph felt the man holding her shove her right into the fur of the pack matron. As soon as Toph could feel the matron's fur, there was total silence.

--

_Oh great_, Toph thought. _I've already been blind, now I'll get to know what it's like to be deaf, too?_ Toph had her eyes closed, and couldn't see or hear anything. However, her own thoughts seemed quite loud to her, as though she had spoken them aloud.

_**Toph Bei-Fong**_, a commanding voice said. _**You have Traded your greatest gift away out of curiosity, and now my family is in danger because of **_**you**_**.**_

_No! No, please, I-I didn't mean to! I never would have thought that this was the price I would have to pay!_

_**Oh? Oh, you didn't think that this would happen? Perhaps some other thing would happen that would not affect your life? How convenient for you! But no, Bei-Fong, you have endangered my life, my pack's life, your friend's life, and your life!**_

_I-I'm sorry! I didn't know..I didn't know…_

_**Quiet Bei-Fong! You have turned your back on us shown by your inability to Act! If you really cared, then you would have acted long ago! You would have known!**_

_I'm sorry! I'm so sorry, I'm-_

_**Quiet child! I thought that you had the True Spirit in you, but it seems I was wrong. You are nothing but a blubbering, jeely-boned, whiny, crying-**_

_SHUT UP!! _Toph screamed, the volume going into all the corners of her mind.

--

Toph opened her eyes. She knew, while her face was in the warm fur, that she had lost something. Duh. She'd lost herself. But did she reclaim herself? She opened her eyes, and pushed back against the arms holding her, forcing them back. She gazed at the pack matron. She seemed to know that Toph was staring at her, for she raised her paw in welcome at Toph. Toph smiled, and touched her hand to the paw, closing her eyes. Immediately, she felt a change. She gasped as the warmth flowed through her

_**Toph. Take this, and go with my blessing, for you have the True Spirit.**_

Toph opened her eyes. Or at least, she thought she did. Didn't she? But this was no different than…No. It _was _different. She could feel the figures behind her, felt them running forward, heard their gasping breathing. Toph's face went slack. She was focused, her whole face showing no emotion. She Willed the earth underneath the men to do as she wanted. The ground the stood on floated in the air, and she threw them off the side of the mountain, into the vast forest below.

"Oh?" an old voice chuckled. "You can Earth Bend once again? And I thought that today would be a slow day." She felt as the man stretched, and the Earth moved to his will as well. She commanded parts of the mountain wall to fragment themselves, and they charged to her.

"Your and Earth Bender?!" Toph asked.

"Well, no. The only Spirits that can Bend themselves or pass on Bending to others are the Spirits of that element itself."

"Spirits? You're a spirit?!"

The old man laughed. "I make Spiritual Packs with others, called Deals in this relm. I am a spirit of chance, gambling, and the Oath-Forger. And, a deifier of fate."

"But then…why can you Earth Bend?"

The old man laughed again. "Because you could! You gave it to me, remember?"

"But…But I can bend now!"

"I told you before. Only Spirits of a particular element can bend that element, or give it to others."

"What? Spirit? But…" Toph's eyes widened, and she turned her head to the pack matron. "No way!" Toph cried. The pack matron nodded her head. "Well then," Toph said, turning back to the old man, "I guess that this is going to be a pretty fair match. After all, if it's gonna be my bending against the bending of a god, this match will never end!" The old man laughed again. Toph could feel a breeze. She felt it blow her cloths. There wasn't much more space between them than in a usual match, but she would still need to judge everything closely.

"But!" Toph said, suddenly. "You're. Going. Down!" And with that, she charged at the deifier of fate.

--

There ya go. Be patient, as school starts this week for me, and I won't have as much free time. That means less time for writing. Also, pease don't bother me about my writing, like typos and stuff like that. Only ask if you don't know what fikdhriogfdl was supposed to mean.


	7. Chapter 7 Juice of Madness

Geez people, sorry it's been so long since my last chapter

Geez people, sorry it's been so long since my last chapter. But no, I am still here!

-Cowd groans-

Oh yeah, and I have this new thing:

-WEP-WEP-WEP- WEP- WEP- WEP- WEP- WEP- WEP- WEP- WEP- WEP- WEP-

Sokka dragged his feet along the sandy floor of the Si Wong Desert. He willed his aching feet forward, one at a time, trying with all his might to think of something that could save Ty Lee and Suki, who were trailing right behind him, and himself. He gazed around at their location, trying to see something that could help them. He gazed around, but to his dismay, he saw nothing in the barren, flat desert.

"Ty Lee…Suki…I don't see anyway to get out of this…guys…I'm sorry...:"

"Really?" asked Ty Lee. "Because I think I see some buildings over there."

"What?!" Sokka shouted, looking in the direction Suki was pointing to. There were, indeed, several small huts right in the direction Ty Lee was pointing to.

"How did I miss that?" Sokka said to himself, scratching his head.

WEP- WEP- WEP- WEP- WEP- WEP- WEP- WEP- WEP- WEP- WEP- WEP- WEP

Sokka looked around at the sand village.

_This is defiantly the weirdest place I have seen_, Sokka thought. everywhere he looked, he saw something…unusual. There was a strange man in rags with a large sign reading "THE END IS NEAR," and he was shouting at the top of his lungs about the end of the world. There were strange people dancing around with someone playing music next to them, while people passing them would drop coins in a hat by them. There were people in cloths similar to different nations, each seeming to practice a bending art. There were people squatting down and playing with strange cards. Sokka was startled as he watched a person suddenly rip apart his cloths and ran straight across to a house while nude.

"This…could be a bad idea," Sokka said to Suki and Ty Lee.

"I don't know," said Ty Lee. "They might have food or water here."

"You want to drink the same thing as these people?!" Sokka asked Ty Lee, pointing to a young couple with lizards perched atop their shaved heads.

"Trust me Sokka…I've had to drink a lot of strange stuff when I was with Azula. I think I can take whatever's here." And witht hat, she turned toward a shop with a sign reading "Fruit Juice sold here!"

"Welcome!" and old man called to them from a counter. "Hey, your new here, aren't you? Are you interested in staying?"

"No, we're just passing by," Sokka told the man.

"Three drinks, please," Ty Lee told the man, bowing politely.

"What would you like?"

"Anything!" Suki cried out, clearly desperate.

The man chuckled, and turned around, grabbing three fresh glasses of some green, milky looking substance. "Here you go," he said politely.

"So, what's the deal here?" Sokka asked, accepting his glass.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, why's everyone-" Sokka's eyes bulged. He had about to take a drink from his glass, but he'd just noticed the smell. "Suki, Ty Lee! Don't drink the-" Sokka started to shout, but it was already too late. Even as Sokka watched, Ty Lee's and Suki's eyes bulged in their sockets. Sokka slammed his drink down, and jumped over the counter, and grabbed the man by the cuff of his shirt, and slammed him into a wall.

"Sokka, Sokka, Sokka, Sokka, Sokka, Sokka, Sokka, Sokka, Sokka!" Ty Lee shouted. "You have to have this! You have to, have to, have to, have to, have to, have to, have to, have to, have to!"

"Gimme more!" Suki shouted at the man who sold them the drinks.

Sokka ground his teeth together. He knew exactly what the problem was. "You're the only one who hasn't been drinking this water, aren't you?!" Sokka shouted at the man.

"What?! How did you know?!" He asked, frightened.

"Because," Sokka said in a growl. "I've drunk Cactus Juice before."

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Toph charged forward, forcing a row of crooked rock pillars out of the ground, straight toward the old man. She heard hi chuckle, and felt her bending halted. Toph slammed her foot down, and raised her arm, sending another pillar of rock to slam into the old man's jaw. He flew back, but she didn't feel him land on the ground.

"What?!" Toph said.

"Toph, he's still in the air!" Katara shouted.

"I thought twinkle toes was the only one who could do that," Toph grumbled. "Fight fair, or don't fight at all!" Toph shouted.

"Ah, but this is a battle of spirits. And I _am_ called the Elder Spirit for a reason."

"I don't care! Just get on the ground so I can make you cry!"

"You want to have a fair match? Too bad, in the real world, nothing is fair. In any world, nothing is fair. But…" And Toph felt him suddenly slam to the ground with so much force, it felt as though he wouldn't have needed bending to causing the racks to slam into the air as they did. Toph felt the man shift his body, and she knew just where the attack would strike. Toph moved out of the way, once, twice, and then counter attacked. Toph felt the man run, and she could feel as he ran on the wall of the mountain, coming toward her. As the man stepped forward with his right leg, Toph made the part where his left leg was to jut out, so he lost his balance and fell. Toph felt him slam into the ground, and she pushed the earth he was laying on at an angle, so he slammed into the mountain side.

"And that's that," Toph said, feeling the mountain wall crumble, crushing the old man.

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"So, how is meditating supposed to help us?" Zuko asked as Aang sat down near the edge of the pond in the Spirit Oasis.

"I don't know, I guess it just will." Aang answered him.

"Right."

Aand stared down at the water. _What was that?_ he wondered. _Did the water just ripple?_

Suddenly, the was a disturbance in the water, and like a geyser, the water splashed upwards, and Aang saw and old man in the rushing water. The old man landed on the ground, and knelt there, breathing heavily.

"That little brat!" he shouted, oblivious to Aang and Zuko. He turned around, and noticed them there. "Oh!" he said, and immediately went into a fighting stance. Aand sttod up, and he and Zuko both went into Firebending stances

"Zuko, I think he's a apirit," Aang whispered.

"No kidding!" Zuko answered back in sarcasm.

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Toph went over to the cage where the Clan Matron was held in, and Metal Bended her out. Bowing to her and thanking her, Toph touched her paw, and felt as the Earthbending left herm and went into the Matron. Toph opened her eyes, and adjusted to the light.

"Wow", she said, shaking her head to clear it. "Losing my bending was worse the second time!" But as she watched, the matron shifted aside the boulders on the ground where Toph defeated the Elder Spirit, and she noticed something green and sparkly in the ruble. It had a faint green shine to it, but other than that, it looked like a rock. A beautiful rock, however – it was intricately designed, and had mysterious symbols on it. It looked like a normal rock…but it was the most beautiful thing Toph had seen in the short time of her Sight. "Wow," she sighed, and approached it. She reached for it, but then paused, and turned to face the Clan Matron. She nodded her head in approval, and Toph smiled, reaching toward her Bending.

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Sokka dragged his feet along the sandy floor of the desert again. While they now had normal water, Suki and Ty Lee were under the effects of the Cactus Juice, and they stil couldn't open the chest they stole from Azula. Sokka turned to face Suki and Ty Lee, and remembered the "rules" of Cactus Juice that the salesman had told him. First, the Cactus Juice always induced the drinker with two different effects the first effect was always hyper activity – that would go away after several hours. The second effect differed from person to person – the man Called Ty Lee's effect "whininess", and Suki's "Randomness." "Basically," he had been told, "Ty Lee will whine a lot, and Suki will say very, very, unusual and inappropriate things. The thing for Sokka to keep in mind is that this breed of Cactus Juice was specially harvested – it would last much longer for Ty Lee and Suki than it did for Sokka. Sokka had wished that they could have stayed and wait for the effects of the juice to run out, but he saw Azula's sand craft heading toward the village. The old man had pointed out the way to the Misty Palms' Oasis to Sokka, where they would be able to contact the Kiyoshi warriors for assistance.

However, Soka wasn't sure that he could live long enough to get there.

He was sure that Suki and Ty Lee would kill him before then.

"Would you two shut up?!" Sokka shouted at Ty Lee and Suki, who were singing carols. "It's not even close to Yulmas!"

"But…but…" Ty Lee started to cry. "But I like Yulmas carols!" she shouted through her sobs. However, Suki completely ignored them, and continued singing.

"Besides Sokka," Ty Lee whined, "It's Dectober! It's not that long until Duodember!"

"We still have Undober!" Sokka said.

"Dectober…Undober…Duodember…June!" Suki said, shouting.

"June?! Suki, what are you talking about?!" Sokka asked in exasperation.

"June! June! June! June! June! June! June! June! June! June!" Suki shouted.

Sokka looked at the direction Suki was facing, and noticed a sheershew in the distance. "Oh no," Sokka said, "June…"

"July!" Suki shouted. "August! August Rush! October Fest!"

"How did she find us?!" Sokka asked.

"Oh no!" Ty Lee said, rummaging around in her pockets. "I lost my favorite pink ribbon!"

"Ty Lee, where did you have it last?!" Sokka asked quickly.

"I needed to pay the juice man, but I couldn't find my coins. I emptied my pockets to find change…oh…"

"Was it a ribbob Azula would recognize?!"

"Yeah, she gave it to me on my last birthday! It was so nice of her!" Then she started sobbing agian. "Why didn't you give me anything, Sokka?!"

"Mine!" Suki shouted, grabbing Sokka.

"Suki! Guys, stop! We have to get away, June's getting closer!" Sokka turned around. "Where did June go?"

"Right here," Sokka heard a voice whisper in his ear.

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Okay, I am going to do a lot of uploading for you people. I am really sorry that it's taken me this long to make this chapter, but I'm going to make it up to you…somehow…wait! I know!

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Sokka drew on the blackboard with his chalk as he heard his "class" go into the room. After he finished drawing, he turned around, and spoke to the Avatar characters in his class.

"On this chapter, you have seen the effects of insanity, and in that insanity, you have seen several 'Avatar months'. I should tell you that the writer went on google, and searched for ABOUT AN HOUR FOR A LATIN TRANSLATOR!" Sokka cleared his thought. "He then used the translator to look up the latin words for 'ten', 'eleven', and 'twelve'. He used the word for 'ten' as the replacement for the month 'October', the word 'eleven' for 'November', and 'twelve' for 'December'. While on the subject of months, the month 'October' takes the greek root for eight, as 'November' and December' take the roots for 'nine', and 'ten'. That is because those months were originally in that order –October was the eighth month of the year, and November and December the ninth and tenth. But, after the (smart) Water Tribe people came up with that plan for the months, there was a Fire Nation Fire Lord" he indicated his first drawing, one resembling an ostrich-fish "who thought that he was so important, he added his name onto the calendar as a month. There comes February. But then, there was another Fire Lord who thought he was more important," he indicated his second "drawing", resembling a monkey-fish, "that he wanted his name on the calendar before February. There comes January. Also of note, is that the holiday 'Christmas' is sometime known as 'Yule Tide', so the author combined 'Yule', and 'Chrismas', to make…Yulmas. He also gave us a pay raise for that horrible pun."

"Since when?!"

"Since now!"


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